Co-Founder and COO Robert Hendrick spent a few minutes with the local TV crew to share tips on how to save money on your prescriptions. Easy steps that can add up to huge savings. You’ll be surprised!
“If you knew what the price of items were at Wal-Mart before you went into the store to buy them, it would put Wal-Mart out of business.”
That has to be one of the single most insane statements ever written.Yet that’s exactly what many doctors and hospitals would have you believe about healthcare. If you knew the price before you went into the doctors office or hospital, it would put the healthcare provider out of business.
Excuse me?
No. It would not. In fact, it might make the patient consider whether they needed that service or not. It might make them question if they really need all 8 prescriptions.It might make the provider find ways to offer the procedure more cost effectively as John Stossel so elegantly pointed out about Lasik eye surgery.
When someone hesitates to tell you the price of an item, why do they do it?
4 Reasons Why People Hesitate to Tell you the Price:
They are ashamed at having to charge that much
They do not believe the product is worth the cost
They prefer you make an emotional commitment to purchase before knowing the price
They simply do not know the price (the fallback reason in healthcare)
Fortunately, rational thought does occasionally prevail. The recent post from KevinMD.com points out (from the physician’s perspective – no less) that price transparency won’t effect health care costs.
It won’t adversely impact the cost of healthcare. It will force providers to be more cost effective and up front about their costs. It will force consumers to be more selective and engaged in the purchasing decision.
But will knowing the price put healthcare providers out of business? Not likely. In fact, knowing the price seems to be working wonders for Wal-Mart and…oh…just about every other business model in the U.S.
Once again, Robert has appeared on a TV show!! This time his healthcare cost-saving tips and new book My Healthcare Is Killing Me were featured on Nashville’s very own “Talk of the Town” – a daily talk show featuring news, weather, and whatever is the current “talk of the town.”
You can view Robert’s segment with Meryll Rose below!
Great job Robert… we look forward to seeing you on TV again soon!
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